Connector for holding aligned members against separation



Feb. 11, 1969 F. c. BERGMAN 3,427,054

CONNECTOR FOR HOLDING ALIGNED MEMBERS AGAINST SEPARATION Filed April 5.1967 //\/V/V7'Oe MJC-Z /Wm 4; 8) 2 MgM United States Patent 3 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A connector, comprising a spring mounted in aholder, has a pair of cars extending downwardly through openings in thebottom wall of the holder adjacent each end thereof and resilientfingers extending above the upper edges of the holder. The opposite endportions of the connector are adapted to fit within the adjacent openends of two tubular members, and the resilient fingers force the earsdownwardly into engagement with openings in the bottom walls of thetubular members. The interengagement of the ears of the connector withthe openings in the bottom walls of the tubular members holds thetubular members against relative longitudinal movement.

This invention relates to means for joining two axially aligned tubularmembers, and is particularly advantageous in the construction of astructural assembly for supporting and displaying Wearing apparel, orother merchandise.

Structural assemblies for supporting and displaying wearing apparel, orother merchandise, have heretofore been fabricated as individual framemembers and secured together at the place of use by nuts and bolts, orsimilar fasteners. The use of such fastening devices has always beenburdensome because of the amount of labor required to position amultiplicity of bolts and to tighten a nut on each bolt. Anotherdisadvantage inherent in such structures is the possibility of the lossof nuts and bolts, thus making replacement of them necessary. In time,some of the nuts may work loose on the bolts. It is also possible thatsome of the nuts may become frozen on the bolts, thus making removaldiflicult.

A single connector of the present invention is sufiicient to hold twoframe members against relative lateral or vertical displacement, andthus eliminates the need for a multiplicity of nuts and bolts.

The connector comprises a holder and a spring seated in the holder. Theholder, which is adapted to fit within the tubular members that are tobe held against separation, is in the form of a channel having a bottomwall and two sidewalls. The bottom wall defines an opening near each endthereof. The bottom wall of each of the tubular members also defines anopening near each end thereof, and the adjacent opening of two tubularmembers are adapted to register with the openings in the bottom wall ofthe channel when the adjoining ends of the tubular members abut.

The spring has a pair of depending ears projected through each of theopenings in the bottom wall of the channel and into the adjacent openingin the bottom wall of one of the abutting tubular members by theresilient of the spring. When it is desired to remove a connector fromthe tubular members, one end of the spring is pressed upwardly to liftone pair of ears out of the plane of the bottom wall of the tubularmember, and the connector is moved longitudinally of the tubular membersfar enough to move the opening in the bottom wall of the channel out ofregister with the corresponding opening in the tubular member. Thetubular member may then be moved longitudinally in the oppositedirection to disengage it from the connector. The connector may then beremoved from the other tubular member by pressing the other end of thespring upwardly to lift the other pair of ears out of the plane of thebottom wall of the tubular member and then pulling the connector out ofthe tubular member.

Suitable structure by means of which the above mentioned and otheradvantages will be described in the folthe accompanying drawings,illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a connector embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a bottom perspective View;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view;

FIGURE 4 is a bottom plan view;

FIGURE 5 is a longitudinal sectional view, taken generally along theline 55 of FIGURE 3, with one end of the connector entering a tubularmember; and

FIGURE 6 is an end elevational view.

Referring to the drawings, a connector 11, constructed in accordancewith the present invention, comprises a holder 12 in the form of achannel and a spring 13 secured thereto in any suitable manner, as, forexample, by a rivet 14. The spring may, of course, be located within theholder free of any connector, such as a rivet, if desired. The channel11 comprises a fiat bottom wall 15 and a pair of sidewalls 16 extendingupwardly from its longitudinal edges. The outer longitudinal edgeportions of the sidewalls are downwardly, as indicated at 17, to providesmooth surfaces for the upper edges of the channel. The sidewalls 16 areof the same height, which is less than the inside height of a tubularmember 18 into which the connector is to be inserted. The bottom wall 15defines a pair of openings 19 and 21 spaced equidistantly from oppositeends thereof for a purpose hereinafter disclosed.

The spring 13 comprises a flat strip 22 and a pair of resilient fingers23 and 24. The strip 22 is juxtaposed against the bottom wall 15 of thechannel 12 and extends longitudinally thereof. The rivet 14 ispositioned centrally of the strip 22 and holds it against the bottomwall of the channel. The outer end portions of the strip 22 are bentupwardly and inwardly along the lines 25 and 26 to define resilientfingers 23 and 24, respectively. The fingers 23 and 24 extend upwardlyabove the upper edges of the sidewalls 16 to provide frictionalengagement with the tubular members 18 into which they are inserted. Theouter ends of the fingers 23 and 24 are bent downwardly, as indicated at27 and 28, respectively, to prevent them from digging into the undersideof the top wall 29 of the tubular member in which they are inserted.

In addition to holding two abutting tubular members against longitudinalseparation, the connector prevents relative lateral or vertical movementin any direction. The channel 12, which spans the joint between theabutting ends of two adjacent frame members, serves as a rigidreinforcing bar for the interior of the top stretchers of the framemembers in proximity to the joint. In the instant embodiment the channelhas a width substantially equal to the inside width of the tubularmembers and a height substantially equal to the inside height of thetubular members.

The spring 13, which is riveted to the bottom wall of the channel, isprovided with two pairs of ears 31 and 32, that depend from thelongitudinal edges of the strip 22. The ears are located so that theears 31 extend through the opening 19 in the bottom wall of the channel,and the other cars 32 extend through the opening 21. The resilientfinger 23 urges the cars 31 downwardly, and the resilient finger 24urges the cars 32 downwardly.

The total height of the spring, i.e., the vertical distance between theuppermost surface of the resilient fingers 23 or 24 and the bottom ofthe ears 31 r 32, is greater than the inside height of the tubularmember 18. Accordingly, when the connector is to be inserted in one ofthe top stretchers, one end of the strip 22 is pressed upwardly to liftthe ears above the upper surface of the bottom wall 33 of the tubularmember. As the end of the strip 22 is pressed upwardly, the connector ispushed longitudinally into the open end of the tubular member 18. Whenthe opening 19 is moved into register with an opening 38 in the bottomwall 33 of the tubular member, the resilience of the spring finger 23forces the ears 31 downwardly into the latter opening to lock theconnector against separation from the tubular member.

A second tubular member 18 is pushed on to the projecting end of theconnector asthe opposite end of the strip 22 is pressed upwardly to liftthe fingers 32 above the plane of the bottom wall of the tubular member.When the second tubular member is pushed into abutting engagement withthe first tubular member, the connector is moved longitudinally in theopposite direction, as hereinafter described, to move the opening 21into register with the opening 39 in the bottom wall of the secondtubular member, at which time the cars 32 snap into the last mentionedopening to interlock the two tubular members securely in end to endrelationship. The outer edges of the cars 31 and 32 are tapered, asindicated at 34 and 35, respectively, to facilitate entry of the earsinto the tubular members.

The bottom wall 15 of the channel is provided with oppositely directednotches 36 and 37, respectively, at the edges of openings 19 and 21closest to the rivet 14. The bottom wall 33 of the tubular member isprovided with a centrally disposed slot 41 extending longitudinallythroughout its length so that a screw driver or similar tool can beprojected through the slot into engagement with either notch 36 or 37 sothat the connector can be pushed in either longitudinal directionwhenever the ears 31 and 32 are clear of the bottom wall 33. The notches36 and 37 are preferably of triangular configuration to facilitateengagement of the screw driver with the notches.

The connector may be removed from the tubular members by pushing up onone end of the strip 22 to lift the cars 31 above the bottom wall of thetubular member, and moving the connector longitudinally into the othertubular member far enough to move the opening 19 out of register withthe opening 38 in the bottom of the first tubular member. The firsttubular member may then be pulled off the connector. The connector isthen moved in the opposite longitudinal direction and the opposite endof the strip 22 is pressed upwardly to lift the ears 32 above the bottomwall of the tubular member. The connector may then be pulled out ofengagement with the second tubular member.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, thespring is riveted to the channel, but it will be understood that therivet may be omitted, and the spring may be held in place solely by theengagement of 4 the cars 31 and 32 with the openings 19 and 21,respectively.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described inconsiderable detail, it will be understood that the description thereofis intended to be illustrative, rather than restrictive, as many detailsof construction may be modified or changed. Accordingly, it is notdesired to be restricted to the exact structure described.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a pair of tubular members aligned in end to endrelationship and having longitudinally aligned openings therein, aconnector comprising a holder provided with a bottom wall defininglongitudinally aligned openings adjacent opposite ends thereof and aSpring seated in said holder, said holder fitting within said tubularmembers with its openings in register with the openings in said tubularmembers, said spring comprising a flat strip having projectionsextending into each of said pairs of registering openings and tworesilient fingers integral with said flat strip, said fingers extendinginwardly and upwardly from opposite ends of said strip into engagementwith the inner surfaces of said tubular members whereby the resilienceof said fingers exerts pressure against said fiat strip to hold saidprojections against retraction from said registering openings by forceapplied longitudinally of said connector.

2. The combination recited in claim 1, in which one 5;. of said holderdefining each of said openings therein defines a notch, and said tubularmember has a bottom wall provided with a slot extending from each of itsopenings to the adjacent end of said bottom wall in longitudinalalignment with said notches, whereby a tool passing through said slotinto engagement with said notches may move said connector as a unit ineither longitudinal direction relative to said aligned tubular members.

3. The combination recited in claim 2, in which each projection extendsdownwardly from one edge of said flat strip in laterally spacedrelationship to said slot and has its edge remote from the edges of saidholder defining said notches tapered toward the plane of said bottomwall to facilitate entry of said projections into said aligned tubularmembers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,075,052 3/1936 Pasman 285-397FOREIGN PATENTS 480,317 1/1952 Canada.

CARL W. TOMLIN, Primary Examiner.

WAYNE L. SHEDD, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,427,054 February ll, 1969 Frank C. Bergman It is certified that errorappears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent arehereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2, after line 8, insert lowing specification, taken inconjunction with line 29, after "sidewalls are" insert curved Signed andsealed this 24th day of March 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

Edward M. Fletcher, J r.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer

